DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — After fewer than five months as senior pastor, David Cox abruptly resigned Jan. 24 from the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., which for more than three decades has been filled by prominent SBC leader Bobby Welch.
Cox, following weeks of highly public controversy over his leadership, announced his resignation in a prepared statement to about 500 members at a Wednesday night meeting, according to a report in Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention's communications arm.
Cox reportedly ran into trouble because of changes he instituted in the church's worship style, his spending habits and the resignations of many longtime staff members after he took the helm.
“Over the past several weeks, First Baptist Church has undergone a season of extreme duress and difficulty,” the statement, reprinted by BP, said. “Given present dynamics and poised circumstances, I believe that any continued service and ministry here, on my part, would not be productive toward future growth and health.”
Cox joined the church's staff as co-pastor in 2003 with Welch, who is the immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The arrangement was intended to ensure a smooth transition when Welch retired last year after 32 years at the church.
According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Cox attempted to defend his decisions in a Jan. 10 “town hall”-style meeting. Among the contentious issues the paper reported was Cox's move to renovate the church's chancel — at several hundred thousand dollars' expense — to better accommodate contemporary worship, even though the congregation plans to move to an entirely new campus soon.
According to the paper, one of the disgruntled members at the meeting noted the absence of a cross on the new platform and said it looks more “like a Masonic Lodge than a pulpit.”
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